Chronicles of Norrath
by Sirocco12
Summary: The world of Norrath has always been ripe for adventure and warfare. However, when a sinister plot to destroy the precious balance of the world is conceived by the forces of Discord, a fledgling Drakkin mage must set off from his homeland to uncover the truth before his home and the rest of Norrath is consumed and torn asunder. Rated M to be safe for language and possible violence.
1. Origins of Norrath

**Chapter 1: Origins of Norrath**

In the beginning, there was nothing in what is now known as the Universe: there was only a never-ending Void. The Void was vast and indescribably dark and cloaked in an all-consuming and deafening silence and bleakness.

Within this Void existed a being of such immense power, known as "The Nameless". It knew of only itself to exist in the darkness that was the Void, and it had no knowledge of why it existed at all-only that it did.

Out of boredom, this being of power wandered through the Void, seeking something-anything-with which to explore within the quiet expanse of the Void. And then it found something marvelous, a small pocket of space that within its domain, held the flow of time.

When The Nameless entered into this space, something wonderful, but terrifying, something extravagant, but exciting, occurred: it detected the elements of space and time and freed them from within its tiny domain to spread across the vast emptiness of the Void.

These new forces interacted with each other and collided as malevolent, swirling energies-heat, light, and all manner of matter touched the Void and filled it, creating stars and planets of varying size and structure. Everything was chaotic.

Seeing that this new Chaos needed to be orderly and fine-tuned, The Nameless reached into the new energies of the Universe and from within it, created the Gods of Power. These higher and yet new and fledgling beings represented Earth, Fire, Water, as well as Air, and with their new-found powers, shaped the Chaos and gave it warmth and nurturing and order.

At the wish of The Nameless, the Gods of Power delved deep into their newly formed elemental planes and drew forth energies by which they could use as their eyes and hands in the new Universe.

They created the lesser, but still powerful Gods of Influence.

In order to support balance among the numerous and countless worlds in the Universe, the Gods of Power created the Gods of Influence on a scale that ranged from evil, dark, and destructive on one end, and light and naturally good on the other, with neutral Gods in the center of the scale to act as a balancing force.

And so these Gods were each created, formed, and born in turn.

* * *

It was Veeshan, the crystalline dragon, who was the first God of Influence to travel to the world that would later be known as Norrath. She was pleased by the size and structure of the planet, and decided to claim it as her own.

With a single raking from her giant, crystal claws, Veeshan tore open the earth of the frozen and glacial continent of Velious and began to deposit her brood into the ice and snow. Out of her act, thousands of dragons ventured out of the caverns she created and began to roam the earth-these dragons were beings of immense intellect, wisdom, and strength.

Content with her deed, Veeshan left the world and her offspring to their own devices.

But this deed did not go unnoticed...

Over time, many other Gods traveled to this new world, now dubbed Norrath, and, often being petty and jealous Gods, deposited their creations on it.

Various races now roamed the surface, skies, and underbelly of the world besides Dragons, including Dwarves, Elves, Humans, Orcs and Goblins, Giants, Ogres, and Trolls, to name just a handful.

* * *

However, it was Dragon-kind and the offspring of the great Crystalline Dragon Veeshan that remained the superior race on Norrath and over time they conquered and overwhelmed all other races, establishing themselves as-

"Ryuu!" A shrill shriek pierced the young Drakkin's ears. In a shout of fright, the offender fell out of his hiding place with the tomes he had 'borrowed' from the city library. With a groan, Ryuu glanced up at who had caught him.

"Tanis..." Ryuu muttered under his breath. The woman before him huffed down at him, her glowing red eyes drilling into his head. With a swoosh of her blood-red Enchanter's cloak, she walked to Ryuu's side before roughly grabbing his arm and yanking him up to his feet.

"Ow! Hey, watch it!" Ryuu tried to push away from his mentor but failed miserably. His musty and overgrown brown hair covered his eyes, rendering him blind (which in one or two cases, might have been a good thing).

"Ryuu, you've been snooping around the library tomes again, haven't you!? Hemfar will have your hide again!" Tanis scolded her prisoner.

"Not only that, but you're late for your duties for the Council! Mystrana only has so much patience with you!" Ryuu rolled his eyes at that proclamation.

"Mystrana might be my superior aide, but we're still best friends; she can't and won't stay mad at me forever, sister," Ryuu sneered up at his older sister Tanis.

"Oh, we'll just see about that 'Little Ryuu'," Tanis retorted as she grabbed her little brother by the ear and dragged him away-but first they would go to the city librarian Hemfar to return the tomes he had once again stolen.


	2. The Circle of the Crystalwing

**Chapter 2: The Circle of the Crystalwing**

Out of all the races that inhabit and roam throughout the world of Norrath, the Drakkin are youngest to exist.

Not only are they relatively new to the world, but they are a race born out of horrible circumstances.

On the continent of Antonica, far to the northeast of dragon kind's origin homeland of Velious, there lay a 'Nest', a winding and deep labyrinth of caverns and tunnels that served a single yet fundamental purpose for dragons: it was here that the eggs of the next generation of dragons were laid every thousand years.

This time period was known as the Brood Dawn, and was the source of much anticipation and anxiety and caution from the dragons of the Nest. For many years the Nest was hidden away and sealed off from the prying eyes of adventurous and greedy Norrathians.

However, the greed of the Norrathians proved too much for the dragons of the Nest, and outsiders eventually broke through the barriers that were erected to keep them out.

As the eldest and most powerful of the dragons flew out from the confines of the Nest and engaged the invading Norrathians in battle, a dark entity slipped by unnoticed and into the nesting grounds, and towards the unprotected dragon eggs.

This dark being laid down a curse that ultimately corrupted and destroyed the newly-hatched dragon eggs and proceeded to spread throughout the Nest.

An entire generation of dragons, destroyed in an instant.

* * *

In the aftermath of the unleashing of the curse into the dragon's nest, there was much flurry and panicked discussion among the dragon elders. It was then that six younger dragons came before the elders with a radical yet ingenious plan to secure and protect Veeshan's bloodline on Norrath.

They proposed that they imbue selected humans with dragon blood, granting them draconian magic and abilities, as protectors of Veeshan's bloodline.

In arrogance, the elders laughed and mocked their plan, and out of spite and anger, banished the six dragons from the Nest when they refused to abandon their ambitions.

Determined to carry out their plan, the six dragons flew southwest until they came upon an abandoned and ruined city, tucked away deep within the Serpent Spine Mountains and hidden away from the rest of the continent.

In the past, the city was inhabited by Ogres, and was called Nokk by its inhabitants. But that was thousands of years ago, during the reign of the Rallosian Empire under the rule of the Warlord God, Rallos Zek, and dust and time were the only inhabitants now. Content with their find, the dragons chose this cliff-side city as their abode and where they would nurture their human-dragon creations. Now they only required humans for which to inject them with their blood.

The six dragons, who now dubbed themselves the Circle of the Crystalwing, departed towards the human city of Freeport to select recruits for their cause. In human form, the dragons entered behind the city walls and began their search.

The more honorable dragons managed to convince humans that were sympathetic with their plight to volunteer themselves for their cause; these humans agreed with them that what occurred to the dragons of the Nest by the hands of Norrathians was unjust and vowed to help the followers of Veeshan.

The less honorable dragons were not content with merely trying to convince petty humans, and oftentimes whisked away the humans that they deemed worthy enough by force, and often against the humans' will.

Once their human recruits were selected, the six dragons brought them back to the old Ogre city and began to imbue their blood within them. All of their memories of their human lives were locked away permanently as the humans slowly lost consciousness as the magic of the dragons rushed through their now slumbering bodies.

And thus, the Drakkin race, a race of half-human, half-dragons, were born unto the world of Norrath.

When the humans awoke, they remained similar, yet very different from their normal human counterparts. They had grown just slightly taller, reptilian scales now covered parts of their bodies, their eyes had also become dragon-like in color and appearance, and some had even acquired small yet protruding horns as facial features. But the most distinguishable feature of this new breed were the tattoos that covered their bodies.

Six different colors of tattoos, representing the bloodlines of the six different dragons of the Circle: children of Atathus the Red Lord, leader of the Circle of the Crystalwing, were adorned with red tattoos with varying intricate designs.

The children of Draton'ra, Master of the Void, were born with dreadfully black tattoos.

The children of Keikolin, the Enlightened dragon, were born with shiny golden tattoos.

The children of Mysaphar, Seeker of All, were born with milky white tattoos.

The children of Osh'vir, the Windspirit, were born with murky blue tattoos.

And the children of Venesh, the Greenblood, were born with mossy green tattoos.

Almost immediately, the newborn Drakkin turned their attention into restoring the decrepit city they were now dwelling in, with the first-borns of each dragon lineage acting as their leaders. In accordance with the wishes of their parents, these six Drakkin, the first ones born from each dragon, banded together, becoming the Council of Drakkin, otherwise known as the Scions of the Six.

With only the purposes of continuing on Veeshan's bloodline and establishing their own race, the Drakkin quickly revived the old city of Nokk and claimed it as their own in their own fashion, renaming it Crescent Reach.

* * *

Several years since then have passed, and the Drakkin race have since then solidified their existence on the face of Norrath. Although they are the target of much suspicion and distrust among most other races, their size, power, and influence has begin to creep beyond their city and the Serpent Spine Mountains in which they dwell.

And it is now, in the present, where our story truly begins. Or rather, the story of one particular Drakkin who would be responsible for uncovering one of the most insidiously covered and hidden plots since the Age of Turmoil.


	3. Ryuu, Son of Mysaphar

**Chapter 3: Ryuu, Son of Mysaphar**

Ryuu sighed disparagingly as he was lifted up the main city elevator to the second level of the city of Crescent reach, where the council of the Scions of Six resided. He had just received an earful from Hemfar, the city librarian, for once again taking his beloved tomes on history. Ryuu didn't see the harm done, they were in one piece.

He had just barely escaped further punishment by his older sister, Tanis, a warrior Drakkin of the bloodline of Atathus the Red Lord, before deciding to get his work over with Mystrana, his council aide 'boss'.

Ryuu kept his focus on the clanking of the elevator's gears as he was elevated further and further up, banners representing the six dragons of the Circle were hung everywhere-it was the Drakkin's way of claiming the old city of Nokk as their own.

Ryuu briskly stepped off the elevator as it halted on the second level and quickly made his way into the council chambers.

"And just where in the name of Veeshan have you been Ryuu?" A loud and shrill, yet demanding and intimidating voice pierced the air, causing Ryuu to jump up in surprise. Out of the council chambers walked out Mystrana.

She wore the standard Crescent reach-grade armor on her person, with the spaces between her armor showing off her intricate green tattoo design, designating her as a daughter of Venesh, the Greenblood. Her hair was similarly green-a dark evergreen color-and spiked up slightly in the front. But it was her glaring green eyes that forced Ryuu to look down sheepishly and chuckle.

"Don't chuckle," Mystrana reprimanded Ryuu and shook a finger down at him. "And for Veeshan's sake Ryuu, you like terrible! What would the Scions say if they saw you like this!?"

"Um..." Ryuu quickly scanned his hazy purple eyes up and down his own person. His equally, if not more so, purple simple defiant cloth robe looked fine in his eyes-he had just washed it the other day. His crude defiant pantaloons and matching undergarments, hidden from view by his flowing robe, were also clean. His boots were unscuffed and might as well have been sparkling! The only parts of his body that were visible were his hands and face, and if it weren't for that, it wouldn't be possible to tell which lineage he derived from. Luckily, a few milky white tattoos were inked on his face and palms, showing that he was a son of Mysaphar, the Seeker of All, the wisest dragon of the Circle.

"Are you kidding me?" Ryuu gawked at Mystrana. "What could possibly be wrong with me?" Mystrana huffed and pointed just above his head. Ryuu grumbled and raised his hand to see if he had anything stuck in his hair-and then he felt a wad sticking up and to the left...and then another wad sticking down and to the right...

He had a severe case of bed hair. And he hadn't even noticed.

Ryuu quickly circumscribed around the problem by ruffling up his pure white hair so it was equally spiky in all directions. he grinned at Mystrana for approval but she was quick to lick her hand and straighten his horrendous hair down the side of his head and his bangs down his forehead, earning her more grumbling from Ryuu.

"There, now you look like a representable council aide of the Scions," she beamed with pride at her motherly handiwork. Ryuu had an opposing train of thought. He strode passed his mentor in a quick gait and entered the chamber as quietly as he could.

And there before him, sitting around a crescent-shaped table on an elevated platform off of the floor, sat the Scions-the first-borns of each dragon of the Circle of the Crystalwing.

Councilmember Heshyrr, firstborn of Mysaphar and older sister of Ryuu: her flowing white hair was almost indistinguishable from her equally flowing white robe. She has the greatest mastery of the arcane out of all the other Scions.

Councilmember Lizzrel, firstborn of Venesh: her green hair was partially folded back and within her grasp, a long, mystic staff that held the power of nature and poison granted unto her by her father.

Councilmember Myjinn, firstborn son of Keikolin: his hair was rusty golden and partially spiked upwards-he couldn't see for sure, but Ryuu was certain he had books smuggled nice and tightly under his golden robe of enlightenment; he knew he loved to read above all things.

Councilmember Reakash, firstborn daughter of Osh'vir: her mystically blue hair was tied back in a knot and she wore her usual blue and golden robe of mist, which represented her bond with her mother as well as her magical affinity of water.

Councilmember Vakk'dra: while not necessarily evil, he was certainly a dark and somewhat twisted individual in his own right. His menacing black and red robe of the Void seemed to demand respect and instill an aura of authority. His jet black hair was curled upwards in the back of his head.

Councilmember Ithakis, firstborn of Atathus, and leader of the Scions of the Six, and effectively the entire Drakkin race: he is short-tempered and easily angered in his own right, but the love he has for his people, as well the reasoning of the other Council members keep him in check-most of the time, that is. His robe was dotted with a variety of shades of red, purple, and gold, adorned with scales that Atathus plucked from his own backside and imbued into the robe, granting unto it another small portion of his magic. It certainly gave him the overpowering aura that the ruler of all Drakkin would most definitely require. His hair was plain and brown and combed back with a sense of etiquette, but his face was serious-it always was. The deeply stained red tattoos of Atathus added to his serious demeanor and visage.

Ryuu quickly stepped to the side of the elevated platform where the other council aides stood, silent and firm and tall-probably to save face in front of the eldest siblings. There was an aide for each Scion whose job was to deliver parchments or deliveries that their sibling Scions needed to be delivered.

In actuality, their job was to pretty much do whatever the Scions told them to do-typical aide stuff once you think about it.

The Scions were quietly deliberating amongst themselves as Ryuu joined the other aides, who didn't even pass him a fleeting glance. Not even the Scions registered his entry, although Heshyrr gave him a scolding look for a split second before jotting something down and returning to the conversation at hand.

Ryuu couldn't hear much of their conversation. One of the biggest advantages to being a council aide was that you heard news before anyone else in the city. Out of their mumbled conversation, he could only hear a few words, like 'Bixie' and 'Mucktail' and ' war supplies'.

Ryuu sighed at that point. For awhile now, the Drakkin have had a poor time establishing diplomatic ties with other races that inhabited their area in the Southern Serpent Spine Mountains. The Mucktail Gnolls and the Bixies-a half human and half bee race-constantly attacked travelers in the Moors to the east of the city, and to make matters worse, the Mucktail Gnolls had recently slain one of their ambassadors, further straining an already tenuous relationship.

It probably wouldn't take much more duress or problems for the Drakkins to go to war with either faction. it didn't help that the Mucktails had an encampment directly outside the city inside the Hollow, which was the wilderness that existed in the outside cavern-it teemed with wildlife, as well as the settlements the Drakkin dwelled in; it connected the city to the Moors further off to the east and was the only way for travelers to exit Crescent reach and go out into the outside world. Needless to say, the Drakkin were keeping a wary eye on the Gnolls in the Hollow.

The Gnolls were humanoid canine creatures, not too different in appearance to bipedal wolves. While vicious over territory and often seen in large numbers, the gnolls in the Hollow were generally placid in their lifestyles. But that didn't mean altercations never happened.

Ryuu had become lost in his thoughts and didn't even notice that the Council meeting had adjourned early for the day. One by one, the council members and their respective aides departed to go about their daily business around the bustling city. Only Ryuu and Heshyrr remained; Mystrana had departed also, confident that Heshyrr would be able to dish out more amusing punishment to Ryuu for his recent behavior.

"Ryuu," Heshyrr stated calmly. It was just enough to snap Ryuu out of his thoughts, and as soon as he saw his eldest sister standing before him, he immediately began babbling out apologies and excuses, only to be silenced by Heshyrr's finger to his lips; a worried expression was etched on her face.

"I'm concerned about you Ryuu," She stated, causing Ryuu to blink in surprise. "You should be a wizard of the Moonfire by now, a wielder of the arcane skills, directed by our mother, Mysaphar the white dragon. But you've been slacking off recently-you haven't attended your lessons nearly as much, and to top it all off, sometimes you disappear for days at a time..." She ended in a whisper.

Ryuu stepped back and sighed, feeling the pressure of guilt weighing down on his shoulders. "I have been practicing, but I don't like practicing my magic at the training academy. I prefer to train by myself; besides, I usually get grief from the other younger trainees."

Heshyrr opened her mouth to retort but closed it and shook her head. She stepped to the side, motioning for him to pass. Ryuu bowed to his sister in respect before making his way out of the chambers, passing Tanis on the way out. Tanis growled playfully at him and punched him in the arm, which Ryuu responded with by showering her with small sparks of flame from his hand. before running off into the bowels of the second level of the city.

"Well, he's certainly full of energy," Tanis spoke out loud as she approached Heshyrr, bowing as she neared her.

"Yes, but I always worry about him..." Heshyrr mused quietly. "Ever since he was born, my mother Mysaphar told me that Ryuu was a 'special case' among us Drakkin. Drakkin normally age and mature in a matter of ten years before their growth levels out, but Ryuu..."

Tanis remained silent as her superior spoke.

"But Ryuu will turn sixteen tomorrow...he ages in human years..."


End file.
